Who says you have to case your rifle in the springtime! It was June 2 and I was on Alaska Airlines traveling to Wrangell, Alaska to hunt black furry critters. The scenery below was breathtaking. As far as the eye could view there were vast glaciers flowing down gorgeous canyons and emerald green islands dotting the oceanline. I was warmly welcomed in the Wrangell airport by Dave and Rod. We set up an exchange hunt over the internet and it was incredible finally meeting face to face. As we nervously waited for my baggage a girl walked directly over to me with my guncase wide open and my 2 rifles, camera and other gear loose on top. My heart pounded as I checked everything over. My 2 padlocks were gone and somehow my case came open in flight. We went directly to the rifle range and everything seemed to be working fine. On the way back to town we stopped at the dump where there were over 40 bald eagles scavenging through the rubble. We looked down the hill to the freshest junkpile and there was a pudgey black bear and black cat. The cat must have been very hungry as it feasted only a paws distance from the bear's jaws! The bear looked pretty content on the garbage because it took over 10 minutes before he even looked up to see us! All I could dream about that night was of a giant black bear with a mouthful of garbage!

The next morning we met Dave at the boatramp and headed off towards a forest service cabin where we'd camp the next couple nights. We spotted several porpouses and giant whales on the way, but the bears seemed to be eluding us on the beaches. We anchored the boat and jumped in the zodiak to head to the shoreline. We pulled the zodiak well above the high-tide mark in a secluded cove and brought our camping gear to the cabin. We spent the rest of the afternoon jigging and landing countless rockfish over a rockpile within sight of the cabin. A couple hours later we headed to deeper water to in search of bigger fare. After feeling my jig bounce on the bottom, I gave a couple short jerks and my reel started screaming out line. I felt the faint head jerks of a monster fish and held on as best I could. After he finally started tiring, I started gaining a foot at a timeuntil a dark shadow appeared from the depths. I had the biggest fish of my life only a few feet away as we struggled to find a gaff and club. Dave did a great gaff job just as my tiny jig and treble hook came flying out of his jaw! The fish pounded Dave's arms against the boat until he finally connected with a couple blows with the club. The fish was mine! It was 58 1/2" long and tipped the scales right at 100 lbs.

Butch, anyother devout hunter met us at the cove where we docked for the night. The forest cabin was incredible! They are roomy with firewood/fireplace, bunks, and incredible views! We got an early start the next morning and headed for the distant Prince of Wales Island. The water was a bit choppy as we made our across the open water to the grass covered shorelines of POW. We spent the entire morning glassing and slowly walking a grassy bay to meet up with the boat in a giant loop. I could hear Dave screaming on his predator call and a few minutes later he came hiking back to us with a giant smile on his face. He had spotted a sow with a giant boar in the middle of the grassy bay and made a bleating dying deer call trying to coax the bear into bow range. The boar heard the call and came charging in his direction. The only thing between Dave and the bear was a small spruce tree Dave was using to conceal himself. At 25 yards Dave drew his bow as the boar spotted him and veared off toward the safety of the bush. Dave was pumped! What an experience!

We split back up and headed in different directions searching out the confines of several hidden pockets. Just as I rounded a spruce tree I spotted the biggest black head I've ever seen only 75 strides away! He had the makings of a giant black bear. He had a huge head, tiny ears, and pudgy short nose. He was looking straight at me as I slowly raised my rifle. I put the crosshairs between his front shoulders and let rip. The boar hunkered to the ground and then spun around into the shelter of the woods. I was sure I had placed the shot well and hiked back to Butch to help with locating the bear. When we returned we searched for hair and blood without finding a clue of a hit. We headed into the thick, wet brush and found a 6 foot area whree he had fallen and then retreated farther into the undergrowth. Four hours later we didn't find the bear so headed back to the boat for more help. Even with 4 guys , we never did find the bear as a sick feeling came upon me. I learned the hard way that bears have alot of fat and hair to soak up the blood so it is imperative to anchor the beast before it heads into the tangled jungle. I was really depressed and could hardly believe the bear of my dreams escaped into the woods. We saw a small bear on the way back to the boat, but the thought of harvesting a lessor bear after such a great chance at a monster just didn't get me very excited.

When we arrived at the boat there were 5 to 8 foot whitecaps in the open water so we decided to spend the night in our sheltered cove. We awoke bright and early the next morning and headed back to the forest cabin and Butche's boat. When we arrived at the cove something didn't look quite right. Butches' boat was sitting sideways in the water in a different positions than where we'd anchored it. It also was half submerged from waves thrashing against its side. The winds had dislodged the anchor and the boat had drifted into a pile of rocks. We managed to pull the boat upright before the tide went out. His boat was now higha nd dry on a giant pile of rocks. We baled water for over an hour and took a look under the boat to see what damage had occured. We were surprised to find only a minor hole that was easily patched with the aid of a screw. After the tide came back in, we dislodged Butches' boat and towed it about 40 miles to Wrangle. Boy did we ever luck out! We spent the rest of the day dismantling motors, seats, gear, etc to rinse off the salt water. We all slept good that night!

The next morning we slept in to 5:00 am and headed down to the dock to do some king fishing. Was I ever getting an incredible variety of excitement! We had pretty fast action "mooching" with herring rigs just past the boat dock. The fish finder indicated lots of feed (herring) along the dock area and that's exactly where we landed some chromer beauties up to 35 lbs. After landing several bright-silver kings we headed south of town on some old logging roads. The roads were in great shape and offered fantastic views of vast clearcuts and snowcapped peaks. After coming through a dense timber patch into a clearing there was about 10 bear scat piles in the middle of the road. After searching the distant hills I turned and looked just in front of the truck where a 2 year old blackie stood. He stood straight up on his hind legs before heading into the thick stuff. He would have been an easy target, but my daughter already has a nice teddy bear collection! We arrived back in Wrangell at 11:00 pm after an incredible 10:30 sunset.

The next morning found Dave and I back at the boat dock at 5:00 with his 3 wheeler. We headed over to a neighboring island that had logging roads with great views of clearcuts. The thick creak bottoms were loaded with bear scat with hardly any sign found in the higher country near the clearcuts. The bears seemed to be in seclusion in thick stuff and it was nearly impossible locating and still hunting them in the tangled jungle. They certainly weren't on the grassy beaches and only rarely showed themselves in the secluded back bays. I still haven't figured out why they were acting this way. Maybe it was the rut, escaping the heat, or were feeding on something in the hidden thick cover. This made for a frustrating hunt. We still stuck with it by trying a predator call to coax them out of the brush and traveling countless boat and 3 wheeler miles. I was amazed at the array of critters that came to a bleating deer call. That is; everything but black bear! I called in numerous sitka blacktail deer, otter, a group of 38 crows, 25 Canada geese, and lots of Steller's jays. Dave and I even spotted a huge billy goat laying on a grassy bench above treeline. The final day was spent encircling Wrangle Island by boat. We spotted a total of 6 brown bears from the boat and was I ever wishing their coats were black! One of the brownies was a giant boar. He towered over a sow with 3 cubs on a giant grass flat. The sow made a charge at the boar and sent him running for the timber. This was our lst blast without spotting a blackie. It was time to head home after a great trip full of great memories!

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